School: Cill an Daingin, Nenagh (roll number 6658)
- Location:
- Coill an Daingin, Co. Thiobraid Árann
- Teacher: Pádraig Ó hOgáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0534, Page 156
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- In every district in Ireland boys go hunting the wren on Saint Stephen's Day. They all carry some musical instrument. They play and sing and dance. They have one special rhyme which they say at every door;-
The wren, the wren the king of all birds,
On Saint Stephens Day she's hid in the furze.
So up with the kettle and down with the pan[?]
Give us some money to bury the wren.
The wren boys dress up in girl's clothes, all torn and worn. They wear masks or "eye fiddles" on their faces, so that nobody will know who they are. Some boys carry a wren on a holly bush and as they go along they sing
We knocked her down and she couldn't see,
and we brought her home on a holly tree
The wren boys' collect the money and on Saint Stephen's night they have a danse in some barn. All those who gave them money during the day are invited.
On Saint Patrick's day we wear the(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Margaret Starr
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Lios Scoilbín, Co. Thiobraid Árann
